'A Hijacking' review: All at sea, with Somali pirates
Pilou Asbaek, right, is a worried captive in 'A Hijacking'
(MAGNOLIA)
Which is exactly how the film treats it, too
— a decision which occasionally turns audiences into unhappy captives, as well.
We spend half the film with the poor sailors, cooped up on that foul-smelling ship. But we spend the rest of it back at sleek corporate headquarters, where the negotiations have already begun.
And drag on for months.
The pirates want $15 million. The company offers $250,000. There are shouts, insults, hang-ups. Then the bargaining resumes. The pirates will settle for $12 million. The company offers $500,000.
And so, on and on, it goes.
As Americans — and, particularly, as American moviegoers — this kind of situation is frustrating, at best. We're impatient for action, any kind of action — but preferably the sort that involves a team of Navy SEALs, maybe led by Dwayne Johnson.
Instead, we get something like a merger meeting.
That emphasis is deliberate — the movie starts with a more typical, yet just as hard-nosed business conference — but it's also deadening. These poor sailors — who want nothing more than to get home — have to sit and sweat and starve, while their captors and their employers negotiate a price, each trying to outbluff the other.
Only these are some very real, and human, assets they are coldly arguing over.
That said, Pilou Asbaek as Mikkel, the ship's disheveled cook, brings a welcome amiability to the proceedings; as Omar, the gangs' chief translator and negotiator, Abdihakan Asgar thankfully pushes beyond the cliches of simple savagery. Indeed, just calling him a pirate draws howls of outrage.
To him, this is simply his job.
To the shipping company's CEO, too.
Soren Malling is excellent in the part, carefully keeping his emotions in check as he continues to low-ball the kidnappers in their ransom demands. And, to give his character his due, he's only doing exactly what his team of hostage-negotiation experts is advising.
video http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eKePoqaeokk
Still, he can't help but come off almost as badly as the pirates. Yes, he says he's worried about his men. But he's also very clearly worried about his position at the company, and a board that is perfectly willing to fire him if he doesn't conclude this matter effectively.
"A Hijacking" is probably a calm and accurate representation of the current piracy problem - in which the vast majority of incidents end with ransoms paid, and no injuries. But it's not an easy film to like — the poor cook is the only truly sympathetic character in the piece — or even, in the end, a particularly dramatic one.
Yes, this is probably how it all happens, in real life. But don't be surprised if, 30 minutes into the film, you begin praying for the Rock to come bursting in.
Ratings note: The film contains violence and strong language.
Source: http://www.nj.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/06/a_hijacking_review_all_at_sea_with_somali_pirates.html
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